Chartered clubs have seven elected Club Officers who each have a key role to play in ensuring that the club runs smoothly. The officers are responsible for dealing with membership, finances, pathways, setting the meeting agenda and setting up the meetings and everything else to keep the club running smoothly. The Committee can also include or co-opt other members and meets each month to discuss all topics of importance to the continued success of the Club. All members are urged to help with organisation, publicity, and promotion.

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What do the seven Club Officers do?

Here’s a quick summary of the Club Officer roles.

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President. The head honcho, the big cheese. Has a key role at the start and end of each Club Meeting, sets the tone for the club success for the year, is responsible for working with the Toastmasters Organisation that exists above the club level (see below).

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Vice President of Education (VPE). The busiest role. Ensures that the agenda is filled up with roles and speeches and distributed ahead of each meeting. Signs off on all the speech completions so that Toastmasters HQ knows how you’re progressing. Also, organises buddies and mentors.

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Vice President of Membership (VPM). The person responsible for talking with prospective members (as you know!) and signing them up. Also, organises membership renewals.

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Vice President of Public Relations (VPPR). The public face of the club! Responsible for the Socials (media and meetups) and the Marketing of the club, including press releases and so on.

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Secretary. Maintains the lists and records pertinent to the club. Takes the minutes of the Committee meetings and distributes them in a timely fashion.

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Treasurer. Makes sure that the membership dues are paid to Toastmasters HQ on time and is also responsible for the rest of the money! Pays for Zoom Licenses, website hosting fees, plus anything else that the club and Committee decide that we need.

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Sergeant At Arms (SAA). In an online club, the SAA is the chief greeter and main Zoom Host.

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There are also other roles and titles, including Immediate Past President, which every club also has. Then we have further roles, including Webmaster, Newsletter editor, and so on, as desired by the club.

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Club Leadership Handbook

 

What’s that “Above Club Level” bit?

There is an entire Toastmasters global hierarchy in existence. Toastmasters members are encouraged to serve their local Club Committee when called upon and may also serve at higher levels within the Toastmasters Organisation.

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Sussex Online Speakers is part of Area 32 (roughly West Sussex) in Division H (South London, Sussex, and Kent). Our area is called H32 for short. Each Area is appointed an Area Director, and each Division has a Division Director.

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Beyond this, we belong to District 91, UK South. Our Area and Division Director sit on the District Executive Committee, which is led by the District Leadership Team. The District Leadership Team in turn is accountable to the District Council, which is made up of the District Executive Committee and the President & Vice President Education of each club in good standing within the District.

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District Leadership Handbook

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The leadership development aspect of Toastmasters is something not to be overlooked. Several of the Pathways you can follow encompass an element of leadership development, as do the roles at club level and above. Don’t forget that the Tagline of Toastmasters is “Where Leaders are Made”, so there is no mention of public speaking there, at all!

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Beyond the District Level, there are various leadership roles to support Districts and the membership. We encourage you to check out the current Board of Directors and an explanation of the International Leadership Roles.

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Each club is represented at the Toastmasters International Annual General Meeting each year. At Sussex Online Speakers, our members moved in July 2023 that unless a member requests to carry the club's proxy vote to this meeting by July 15th we would assign the club's proxy to the District Director.

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Toastmasters International Governing Documents

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When does the club committee meet?

Our committee aims to formally meet each month, online for an hour. All members are welcome to attend a committee meeting. Our committee is elected each May for the upcoming program year (July 1st to June 30th). The committee must run all operational changes and finances by the club membership for approval.

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Sussex Online Speakers Club Constitution

Current Addendum to our Club Constitution (updated September 2023)

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How to Contact a Committee Member?

Our Contact Us page is a perfect way to contact any Committee Member. Be sure to put the title of the member in the 'Subject' line and we will make sure your message gets to the Committee Member.